Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Should You Buy?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) shot up 1.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $29.55 and last traded at $29.40. 699,430 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 3,958,267 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.95.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VKTX. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Maxim Group cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.76 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.51.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.25) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $206,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,251 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,789,000 after buying an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $298,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 39.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,172 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 4.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 248,269 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,718,000 after acquiring an additional 11,668 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD.